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Readers rank favourite cruise ships

In Conde Nast's Reader Choice Awards, it was gold, silver and bronze for Disney in the large ship category. The Magic, Wonder and Dream finished one-two-three, with the fleet's fourth ship (the Fantasy) in eighth place.

Photograph by: Handout photo
, Disney Cruise Lines

From time to time I run a column about somebody's "Best Of" cruise list.

The Readers' Choice Awards, from Conde Nast Traveler, are about the best 100 cruise ships. This particular list fits into my "like" category because it provides photos, a wealth of information on the ship and an opportunity to agree or disagree online.

As the magazine's writers point out, each new ship at launch brings larger spas, improved staterooms and better restaurants as cruise lines try to top one another. They also point out that of the 40 river ships included on the list, a few achieved some of the highest scores in the four categories. The categories, which readers vote on, are small, midsize and large ships, and river cruisers.

Each ship is scored for its itineraries, excursions, service, cabins, food, activities and design. Here are the top 20 in each category:

Leading the way in small ships is Arethusa with 97.1 points. Never heard of it? It's from Grand Circle, only has 26 cabins and is marketed by word-of-mouth. Exploration ships called National Geographic Explorer and Endeavour finished second and third, respectively. Among the well-known brands, Silversea placed five ships in the top 20 (one was the Silver Explorer, the expedition ship), followed by Seabourn with four.

Both SeaDream's ships made a top 20 that included two yachts from Windstar.

The medium category provided no surprises - Crystal's taking first and second with their two ships, Symphony and Serenity, followed by Regent Seven Seas' Voyager.

Holland America led with four in the top 20, and Oceania placed three, including the Marina, and Princess also placed three of its smaller ships. The two ships that make up Azamara's fleet, the Quest and the Journey, tied in ninth place.

It was gold, silver and bronze for Disney in the large ship category. The Magic, Wonder and Dream finished one-two-three, with the fleet's fourth ship (the Fantasy) in eighth place. Royal Caribbean topped the category's top 20 with six ships, including the largest in each of the fleet's class - Voyager, Freedom and Oasis (both Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas). Princess was right behind with five ships. As expected, Cunard's Queen Mary 2 made the list and Celebrity placed three ships in the top 20 - Solstice, Eclipse and Equinox.

I saved the hottest category; river cruising, for last.

The first six places, yes six, went to Grand Circle, a line servicing primarily American passengers and a line that doesn't advertise in Canada.

So the question is: Why? Obviously Grand Circle customers piled on the votes at Conde Nast.

Take, for example, Viking, the largest river-cruise line in the world.

While some of Viking's older ships were selected in the top 20, none of the eight Viking Longships launched last year made the top 20 list. Also missing in the top 20 were Ama-Waterways, Avalon and its all-suite ships, and Scenic Tours, the first river cruiser with full balconies.

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In Conde Nast's Reader Choice Awards, it was gold, silver and bronze for Disney in the large ship category. The Magic, Wonder and Dream finished one-two-three, with the fleet's fourth ship (the Fantasy) in eighth place.

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